Raw History: Episode 186 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 63

Raw History
Episode #186
November 25th, 1996 | New Haven Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut

WWF Champion: Sycho Sid (1) since 11/17/96
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Marc Mero (1) since 9/23/96
WWF Tag Team Champions: Owen Hart and the British Bulldog (1) since 9/22/96

Your hosts this week are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

Bret Hart def. Owen Hart w/ Clarence Mason via disqualification in 9:27
It’s Bret’s first match on Raw in eight months. That was against Tatanka, which gives you a feel for how long ago it was. JR says Bret’s performance at Survivor Series was impressive but Vince calls it “less than stellar.” It’s just like how Vince kind of shat on Bret on commentary right after the match with Austin. These two work some early exchanges that all look good because it’s two greats executing them. Owen pulls hair, so Bret returns the favor. The pace quickens as Owen takes a corner bump and back body drop. British Bulldog watches from the back. Owen delivers uppercuts and pounds away on his brother before applying a camel clutch. He remains in control through a commercial. They trade blows and it’s FIVE MOVES OF DOOM time. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but here’s Steve Austin to attack him with a steel chair for the DQ. Probably my least favorite Owen/Bret match since they set such a high bar. Good, clean back and forth between two guys who always delivered. ***¼

Austin and Owen continue the assault. Austin goes to Pillmanize Bret’s ankle but British Bulldog comes out to stop him. He tries to calm things down but Austin whacks him in the back with a chair. Owen argues with Austin, who just leaves. It was the earliest seeds being planted of a Bulldog/Owen feud that never fully materialized.

The Executioner w/ Paul Bearer def. Freddie Joe Floyd in 3:16
Terry Gordy is gearing up for a loss to the Undertaker at the next PPV before leaving the company altogether. Floyd gets in some babyface fire arm drags but is overwhelmed by the Executioner. NR

Backstage, Dok Hendrix tells us Bulldog and Owen are arguing backstage and Steve Austin left. Executioner wins with the ASIAN SPIKE to no response. It accomplished what it had to but wasn’t good.

JOSE LOTHARIO’S HOME ~ Jose sits with Shawn Michaels for an interview. Shawn’s outfit looks like something right out of Undertaker’s “American Badass” closet. Jose is sad that Michaels lost the WWF Title and will have some work done on his bad heart. Vince says Shawn’s boyhood dream was shattered by Sid. Shawn gets his rematch at the Royal Rumble but admits he may have lose some of his edge. Lawler puts the blame on Jose but Shawn doesn’t blame Jose. Vince brings up the crowd being pro-Sid at Survivor Series. Shawn says it didn’t bother him. He just wants the fans to have a good time and if he doesn’t provide that, they can get it elsewhere. He wants the fans behind him but if they aren’t, that’s fine. He doesn’t care if Bret wins the title but would rather face Sid for revenge. He was passionate and angry here, which was different for his character. It felt like a way to try and make him seem tougher. It wasn’t the best promo but it does kind of help set up the cocky, more aggressive Shawn coming soon.

KARATE FIGHTERS ~ Sunny beats Sable but cheated so the decision is reversed.

Rocky Maivia def. Salvatore Sincere in 4:28
Sunny comes out for commentary in a little blue dress and dances with Vince. She wants a closer look at Rocky Maivia. Capt. Lou Albano and Don Muraco get split screen promos to put over Rocky. Rocky has generic offense that Sunny fawns over. She says she wants to show Rocky more than the ropes, which makes Lawler jealous. As Salvatore gets in offense, Sunny says Rocky is a guy you can build a company around. You wouldn’t believe it here but it rang true in a few years. Shoulder breaker puts Sincere down. Like I said, you wouldn’t know he’d become the biggest star ever by these early performances. He would learn quickly though. NR

Dok Hendrix says things have cooled down between the Tag Team Champions but British Bulldog wants his hands on Steve Austin.

Marc Mero w/ Sable def. Billy Gunn in 8:07
Now fully heel, Gunn jumps Mero before the match. Hunter Hearst Helmsley is on commentary. Mero snaps off a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and sends Gunn outside. Hunter distracts Mero but it doesn’t have much effect. Mero brings a slingshot leg drop and moonsault but the crowd sits on their hands. Uh, there’s still two more shows to tape after this. Gunn hits a Rocker Dropper and standing dropkick. Hunter talks about using Mr. Perfect since Perfect is gone from the company again. Billy taking over on offense is dreadfully boring. Mero comes back and hits a super rana for two. Hunter leaves the booth to bother Sable. Mero intervenes and levels HHH. Billy hits him from behind and Mero is left for a two-on-one shoeing that results in the DQ. Jake Roberts attempts to make the save. He doesn’t fare well but it opens the door for Mero to fire up and they send the heels packing. That match was boring, mostly for Billy. Mero tried but the crowd wanted no part. ¾*

World War 3 Results
Ultimo Dragon def. Rey Mysterio Jr. to retain the J-Crown Championship in 13:48 (***½)
Chris Jericho def. Nick Patrick with one arm tied behind his back in 8:02 (*½)
The Giant def. Jeff Jarrett in 6:05 (*)
Harlem Heat def. The Amazing French Canadians in 9:14 (*)
Dean Malenko def. Psicosis to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in 14:33 (***¼)
The Outsiders def. The Faces of Fear and The Nasty Boys to retain the WCW World Tag Team Titles in 16:07 (**½)
The Gant won World War 3 in 28:21 (**½)

Reliving Nitro
Episode #63
November 25th, 1996 | Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan (2) 8/10/96
WCW United States Champion: Vacant since 11/25/96
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (1) since 10/27/96
WCW Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (3) since 8/20/96
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko (2) since 10/27/96

Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko handle hour one. They show stills from World War 3 last night, where Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan signed the contract for a match at Starrcade. In other news, Ric Flair has been stripped of the United States Title due to injury and a tournament begins tonight.

WCW United States Championship Tournament First Round: Arn Anderson vs. Lex Luger ends in a double countout at 13:07
These two met at Halloween Havoc. Arn’s midsection is taped, which is bad considering Luger’s finisher. Of course, because he’s Lex Luger, he works the arm instead of the ribs. The answer is right there Lex. They do a lot of nothing heading into the commercial break. Returning, they fight outside and Luger FINALLY sends him into the ring post, hurting the injured body part. The Giant appears in the crowd with a microphone and calls the tournament a sham because he holds the real title. He literally has possession, but isn’t the champion. He challenges the tournament winner. The fight goes back outside where dumbass Luger applies a Torture Rack and they both get counted out. He could’ve dropped Arn and won via countout. You were fine with that kind of win at SummerSlam 93 you dunce. Boring, pointless match that did nothing but kill time. DUD

We get still images form Jarrett/Giant, Jericho/Patrick and Dragon/Mysterio.

The nWo music plays and they all come out except Hulk Hogan. Eric Bischoff leads the way. He cuts a promo about why he joined the nWo. After getting powerbombed at The Great American Bash, he recovered and decided to become part of the force, rather than be consumed by the power. He’s the highest ranking executive in the nWo and WCW. He gives the locker room thirty days to convert their contracts from WCW to nWo or they will be targeted. The American Males come out after Bischoff threatens to fine Roddy Piper if he gets out of hand. Marcus Bagwell jumps to the nWo, accepting Bischoff’s offer. Scotty Riggs doesn’t want to, so Bagwell hits him with a neckbreaker. HE’S BUFF, HE’S THE STUFF AND THE GIRLS JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH! Good promo by Bischoff that made sense. The nWo is starting to grow and is on the verge of being too big. To be fair, Vincent and Giant are the only two that I don’t think should be in right now.

Diamond Dallas Page Def. Disco Inferno in 2:14
Despite bring on the road to a babyface turn, DDP attacks during Disco’s entrance. He continues the beating until Disco hits two neckbreakers. He wastes time dancing, leading to the Diamond Cutter for the quick finish. DDP delivers entertaining squash matches and the crowd loves the Diamond Cutter. NR

Mean Gene is out to interview DDP. DDP says the nWo wants him because he has the baddest finisher in the business. Gene accuses DDP of defecting to the nWo because of his past friendships with some members. GENE! FALSE ACCUSATIONS ARE WHY STING IS THE WAY HE IS NOW! STOP IT!

Non-Title Match: WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal def. Tony Pena in 3:05
No, it’s not former Major League catcher Tony Pena. That would’ve been far more entertaining. With the US Title being vacant, Regal is the only champion still representing WCW. There’s Dean Malenko, but commentary literally discredits him because he’s a cruiserweight. Pena angers Regal early with some offense, so he takes him to the mat. Pena fires back with chops but Regal trips him and applies the Regal Stretch, making him submit. More competitive than most, but still a squash. NR

Mean Gene interviews Rick Steiner, fresh off a stint in Japan. He’s confused about things like Sting being in the rafters, but confirms that the Steiners are 100% WCW. Just you wait Rick.

THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN PAID FOR BY THE NEW WORLD ORDER ~ The Outsiders model their new shirt. “$20 or two for $40. Buy a million, it costs just $20,000,000.” ~ THE PRECEEDING ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN PAID FOR BY THE NEW WORLD ORDER

WCW United States Championship Tournament First Round: Eddie Guerrero def. Konnan in 5:23
In the first minute, Eddie sends Konnan outside and follows with a dive. HOUR NUMBER TWO! Schiavone sticks around, replacing Eric Bischoff with Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan. Konnan works a rest hold to get through the second hour pyro. He throws in a move here and there in between the mat stuff. Heenan says he hears about too many Guerreros, including Larry and Mo. When Schiavone corrects him, Bobby straight says he doesn’t care. Eddie finds an opening by catching a leaping Konnan with a dropkick. Eddie goes for the Frog Splash but Konnan hits a superplex. He tries Splash Mountain, but Eddie counters and lands on top of Konnan to advance. Disappointing. Their Uncensored match was much better. Konnan didn’t look inspired and the finish was lame. **

Time for more still images, this time of Harlem Heat/AFC, the triangle Tag Team Title match and Malenko/Psicosis.

Big Bubba w/ Jimmy Hart def. Rick Steiner in 3:17
Is Scott still in Japan? During his entrance, Rick shouts that he can’t believe he can’t trust Sting. Rick tosses Bubba around, showing off his power. His release German is especially impressive but Bubba gets his foot on the rope. The crowd comes alive and commentary thinks it’s the nWo. It turns out to be Sting, walking down from the rafters. He targeted Jeff Jarrett last night. Steiner hits the big bulldog but Sting is still far away. With Bubba outside, the referee is distracted by Jimmy. Sting plants Rick with the Scorpion Death Drop to a pop. Then he calmly leaves and Bubba gets the pin. Nothing match but great story work. NR

ON THE ROAD WITH LEE MARSHALL ~ He’s in Dayton ahead of next week’s show and plugs Ohio State football. He hangs up to go play a game of “Pin the Tail on the Weasel.”

Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Psychosis in 2:20
I guess his name is now officially Psychosis and not Psicosis. We get some early, fast paced mat work. Ultimo Dragon and Sonny Oono watch from the aisle. Psychosis does an alley-oop bomb over the top that somehow doesn’t cause a DQ. Damn inconsistencies. Rey looks to be in trouble and eats the guillotine leg drop but kicks out. He counters Splash Mountain into a super rana for the win. Too short. Give them more time and they could’ve replicated some of their ECW magic. NR

Chris Benoit and Woman are interviewed by Mean Gene. Benoit says Kevin Sullivan didn’t get rid of his biggest problem last night. The whole Dungeon of Doom wasn’t enough to get rid of one man.

They air the entire contract signing segment from World War 3 last night. It just hammers home the fact that this segment belonged on a Nitro and not a PPV. It kills a good twenty minutes.

Jeff Jarrett def. Alex Wright in 2:18
Do they expect me to cheer for Jarrett over Das Wunderkind? Wright hits some dropkicks but doesn’t get much else in. Jarrett wins with the Figure Four. NR

They do still images of the World War 3 battle royal, which the Giant won. Will he take a title shot against Hogan or are the movie roles he’s offered enough?

The Faces of Fear vs. Harlem Heat w/ Sister Sherri ended in a no contest in 4:08
Surprisingly, no Jimmy Hart with the Faces of Fear tonight. The teams trade nothing of interest until the Barbarian wakes everyone up with a powerbomb. The cover is broken up and Meng comes in the ring for a few seconds, then just goes back to the apron. No reason at all for it. The match breaks down and everyone brawls. The crowd pops because the nWo is here. They all run out and jump both teams, resulting in a no contest. Giant chokeslams Meng as the nWo poses to close the show. The match was literally just a time waster until the nWo showed up. NR

Raw Rating: 2.1
Nitro Rating: 3.1

4.3

The final score: review Poor

The 411

Raw: A little more than half of this Raw worked for me. Obviously, the Bret/Owen opener was good. I also found the Shawn Michaels interview to be solid and they did a good job showcasing Rocky Maivia. The Executioner stuff and the main event were both drags. I also enjoyed the tease of Bulldog/Owen issues. 5.5

Nitro: Yea, this was a lackluster episode of Nitro. It was a flat show coming off a PPV. The only thing that mattered was Bagwell joining the nWo. The US Title Tournament is on but neither match was worth your time. Sting attacking Rick Steiner was probably the high point along with DDP. The second hour, now that Raw moved up from 8-9, feels like something the company doesn’t even care about. 3.0